If I had to use one word to describe the Ereck Flowers experiment in New York, it would be disastrous.
Taken No. 9 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft, the all-ACC tackle out of Miami was supposed to be the guy who finally stabilized Big Blue’s offensive line. Despite starting 48 games in New York, this never came close to coming to fruition.
Over four seasons in New York, he allowed 180 total pressures and was off the team before the conclusion of his rookie contract. Like Evan Neal is now, he attempted to move to guard to prolong his career, but it didn’t stick. Flowers has not played a down of NFL football in nearly four years, last playing for the NFC East rival Washington Commanders in 2021.
In PFF’s 2015 NFL redraft, the Giants steer clear of the offensive line in order to ensure they do not repeat the same mistake.
Adrian Amos, not Landon Collins wears blue in PFF Redraft
Instead of selecting Flowers in the do-over, the G-Men selected the always-reliable Adrian Amos, who excelled in Chicago and Green Bay during his 10-year career.
The most ironic part? The 32-year-old has played at MetLife Stadium before. He just suited up for the other New York team, appearing in 11 games for the Jets in 2023.
According to PFF, Amos led all safeties with a 96.1 coverage grade from 2017-2020 and was the league’s most valuable safety in 2020.
Originally selected 142nd overall out of Penn State, Amos makes a rapid ascension into the top 10 in this redraft, becoming the largest riser with hindsight on his side. And in this reality, he serves as a replacement for the safety the Giants actually drafted in Landon Collins.
Collins, a three-time Pro Bowler, was selected 29th by the Colts in this scenario, which was just four picks earlier than the Alabama product was actually selected.
While the 2016 All-Pro has more accolades than the man replacing him, it is a true debate as to whether the Baltimore product would have been a better fit. Amos quietly posted better coverage numbers than Collins on nearly 1,000 more career snaps.
This is an interesting scenario to look into. New York already had a top-10 scoring defense in 2016— imagine the boost with Amos on the back-end instead of Collins.
Redrafts are utilized to point out hindsight, and if it was 20/20, few teams would have served to benefit more than the Giants.